Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the institution of the Governor is a “critical connect between the Centre and the State,” and the Governor’s office should be “lively and active, and live up to people’s expectations.”

Taking a cue from speeches at the conference, the Prime Minister said that the Conference of Governors was a good beginning as the event took place out of the shadow of the deadliest pandemic in a century.

He urged governors to travel to the remotest villages of the state and interact with neighbouring governors regularly to know about people’s problems.

In a particular reference to the States that share international borders or are coastal states, he requested Governors to travel to villages along the borders or the sea coast and spend time with people.

At the same time, he urged governors to hold regular interaction with central government officials working in their States, Modi said.

Referring to the presentation of best practices given by five states and a union territory, the Prime Minister emphasised that an institutionalised mechanism should be created for frequent interactions among governors to learn about the best practices in their States and emulate them in other States.

He referred to the significance of social media and technology and pointed out that such tools should be adopted by governors to streamline their functioning and to reach out to people.

The Prime Minister particularly referred to the NAMO app which carries positive news every morning in order to make them more aware of development around the country.

He said that he had faced criticism during the raging pandemic from economists for not following the path of printing currency notes and distributing them as doles.

“But now the economists in all over the world were looking up at India as the country had given a new economic model to the world by not only salvaging the situation but also giving a fillip to growth,” he said.

Asking governors to share their experiences in the state for his ‘Mann ki Baat’ after traveling across the State, he highlighted that the governor’s institution was critical in maintaining the integrity of the nation.

He asked them to be cautious against any attempt to go against the spirit of the Constitution. He sought their active cooperation in the vaccination drive and urged them to keep a constant connection with people and officials to know about its status.

The Prime Minister urged governors to expand their social outreach, meet people in order to instill confidence in them.